Preparation Time

This picture has nothing to do with today's post. I just can't post a post without a picture.

We are gearing up for Riley's 504 meeting on Wednesday. My friend, who is a therapist/behavioralist and two of her colleagues came over on Friday, to spend some time observing and working with Riley. The three of them are forming their own business, helping parents of kids on the spectrum. All three of them were shocked that Riley does not have an IEP, and they laughed at his 504 (it IS pathetic). I let them look over the testing results from Regional Center, and there was agreement that the diagnosis could still be Aspergers, but really it doesn't matter, because PDD-NOS is an Autism Spectrum Disorder. I think it only matters to me, because the school does not know what to do with the PDD-NOS diagnosis, and Aspergers is easier to understand. Anyway, they really helped me figure out my focus for Wednesday's meeting. I just sure wish I knew if he was going to get an IEP or not-the psychologist never got back to me about the testing results. It should be interesting to see if she shared the results with the VP or counselor. So I have a clear idea of what I want. All of my goals for Riley are social goals. He has to be able to introduce himself to others, and learn to carry on a conversation, a two sided conversation, not just answering questions. He's not good at chit-chat. He can and will answer questions, but he won't reciprocate conversation. If I ask him how his day is at school, he would never then ask about my day, etc. Another goal is to get him to use names. He does not address anyone by name, except for Quinn, and he says that name more than he really should. He does not call Kevin and I "mom" or "dad," and he is certainly NOT using the names of his teachers. He's going to HAVE to use names when he has a job some day. He won't use his teacher's name if he has a question, he'll just start talking. The ladies that were here Friday prompted him to come into the living room and say, "Mom, I decided I want burritos for lunch" (they made him choose what he wanted for lunch, threatening sushi if he didn't choose). He came into the room, walked over to me and said, "I decided I want burritos for lunch." He was then redirected and he said he couldn't do it, that he wasn't good at that. She then prompted him to say her name and that he was not comfortable saying that, which he DID do. There's been a handful of times that Riley has said, "mom," and each time I haven't answered at first because I am not used to him saying it.

I will keep you posted about Wednesday's big event-oh I am also asking for an OT evaluation and a social skills group, and for him to be able to use an Alpha Smart for note taking. Ducks in a row, ready to throw down if it comes to it. I am over my district and their lack of helping kids-and not just my kid either. ALL kids.